Grant Shapp's bookshelf and 'Zoom' background

[chomalungma]

Honestly.

He has an open 'Red box' - is it supposed to be a Government red box?
Then he has several books on the bookshelf possibly deliberately facing outwards so we can all see what he may be reading.

Plus the Union flag as well.

I wonder if he spends a lot of time preparing it for interviews?

Any of you on Twitter may enjoy this account twitter.com/BCredibility which covers a wide range of politicians, celebrities and their bookcases.

Have you noticed that Grant's books are almost all red, white and blue too?
It's a little try hard, isn't it?

DH and I treat the morning news a bit like a mini episode of Through the Keyhole these days. Better than listening to the utter rubbish that they spout.

Shapps is odd. Didn't he pretend to be someone else for a while for a business. Seriously dodgy IMO.

I'm just impressed by people who actually have room for all their books.

I haven't seen anyone yet who has books "arranged" like I do, stacked up precariously on side tables and cabinets like an especially chaotic game of Jenga, played by people who are very drunk.

Usually, I fill up a box or two every few months and give them to my neighbour for the charity shop where she volunteers, but they aren't taking donations at the moment.

Everyone seems to have a bookcase full of books behind them, but Grant Shapps one does look a bit contrived.

My favourite background is Spencer Kelly's on Click on BBC news channel, he has a large trees picture behind his sofa - I want that picture for above my fireplace.

DH has my new V11 Dyson behind him for his Teams meetings at work, someone commented that it looked like something out of Star Wars.

Lakie- all my family are like that! We have books everywhere, most shelves are double stacked. I try to cull, but it's like they grow back!

Shame he has not got a brain to go with it all. But if he did have he’d need to resign from the Cabinet.

Oh i love looking at the backgrounds of all the people who are interviewed on the news like this. The GPS, the politicians, everyone. It always says something about them. Even no fucks given to what's behind them says something.

One GPs background improved suddenly a couple of weeks into all this. BBC Breakfast 6.30 news. I'm dead sure that the first couple of times we saw him the back ground was just a nice coloured but dead plain wall. There might have been a bicycle just in shot. Now the wall has two large black framed paintings and a light sconce all beautifully symmetrically arranged around the head of the GP. A tasteful bushy green palm just in shot now as well.

No judgement from me. I'd do exactly the same!

We always chuckle at the Dr who is interviewed on zoom for the BBC who looks lie he is in a black tiled bathroom but its actually a reception room with a fireplace.

Has anyone started recognising the rooms rather than the person being interviewed?

@ElBandito - oooh thank you for that link! Would love a mumsnetters book cases of credibility thread

@chomalungma

Honestly.

He has an open 'Red box' - is it supposed to be a Government red box?
Then he has several books on the bookshelf possibly deliberately facing outwards so we can all see what he may be reading.

Plus the Union flag as well.

I wonder if he spends a lot of time preparing it for interviews?

Are you me? These were my exact thoughts watching him try to defend the omnishambles

Oh I loved being nosey and seeing what various people have as their zoom backdrop

Our favourites here are the mad professor types, where's there's books piled precariously high and bits of paper scattered around.

The (Notso)SmallDragons spend ages creating videos to play behind them on a green screen during "family quiz night" on Zoom so I can imagine that someone watched by the world and his wife would spend some time working out what is behind them.

It is oddly fascinating looking at that is behind all the people on TV now - it's going to be so dull when they stop doing it and get back into the studio properly!

A lady at church told us: "I like this task, because I get to see inside people's houses." She was referring to collecting Christian Aid envelopes, when she was trying to recruit volunteers.

That’s a weird way to have your books unless you happen to live in a bookshop and are doing zoom from the shop.

I struggle to believe that anyone would have books facing out like that at home if there wasn’t a camera pointing at the bookshelves.

@Scruffyoak

I have never rearranged a background. I just check no pants on the floor and thats it

🤣 This is why a like button would be useful!

I don't remember the flag being there a few weeks ago when he was interviewed over Zoom. I think he has put it there to honour 75th anniversary of VJ day tomorrow.

My DH was doing his first “camera on” zoom call last week and although he sits in front of my bookshelf, with a highly brilliant collection of books, but he decided to use a background instead! I should add that he also warned me that he was doing it in case I was wandering around naked (I was about to have a shower) and the software detected my boobs as faces... Heathen 🤣

Lakie- all my family are like that! We have books everywhere, most shelves are double stacked. I try to cull, but it's like they grow back!

IveSeenThings we've just spent a couple of weeks culling our huge book collection. It's a one in, one out policy from now on.

I love the backgrounds that lockdown zoom interviews have shown us!
Micheal Palin had shelves full of books , I thought he was in an actual library.
Charlize Theron just has a plain magnolia wall behind her which was a bit boring ..
Matt Hancock's big Queen picture is a bit 'edgy' I thought : I had him down as a man with lots of books.
Andy Burnham seemed to be in a small loft extension and looked a bit cramped once.
The book ones are fascinating though and I'm glad people still buy them! Looking for guitars and other instruments in the background is also a pastime of mine.
Some people have lovely homes.

Grant Shapps one does look a bit contrived.
Perhaps not as much as the university academic interviewed a few weeks ago on BBC news who had taken some of his books off his shelves and placed them front cover facing out, across each shelf.

I also recall seeing the brilliant Jess Philips being interviewed early on in Lockdown and admiring her for her very busy, no frills or fuss, living room set-up. No bookshelves, but what looked like a can of deodorant or hairspray on her coffee table

gingerbreadteen Jess Phillips has primary-aged child/ren- if that's all she had in her sitting room, rather than a seething mass of toys, games, books and "creations", it's impressive!

knittingaddict (sorry- I always sing your name to the tune of the Five Star song in my head!) - my teenagers won't let me get rid of Horrid Henry, Usborne mysteries, Daisy books etc, let alone things like Each Peach, Gruffalo, Hungry Caterpillar etc. I had managed to get some agreed to, but as Lakie says nowhere is taking donations at the moment (understandably) so they sitting here, actually piled up right next to my desk. I can't bin them, they're all in perfectly good condition.

Lisa Nandy appears to be in a weird empty attic. I'm worried she is being kept against her will.......